Times of Change
by Chelsea D Grey
Summary: Sakura's back in time. She doesn't know how it's happened, or why, but all she knows is she's got a second chance and she's not going to waste it by fawning over Sasuke and beating Naruto black and blue. No, she's going to be different. This time they were going to be the ones watching her back and not the other way around.
1. Prologue

_**Going Back **_

_**Prologue**_

* * *

Green eyes opened, the sun blinding as a hand moved to save their poor retinas. Things were quiet... too quiet for their liking. The last thing they remembered was being in a battlefield; explosions and sounds of death and pain laced all around them. There was no room for quiet. Not in a battlefield. Not when there were things to be done and people to be saved in their times of need.

"Sakura, shouldn't you be heading out soon?"

Wait, what?

"Mom?" Sakura raised herself from the confines of her bed and looked around in shock. She wasn't supposed to be at home. In fact, her home wasn't even supposed to be here. It was destroyed during the war... and her parents were supposed to be out of Konoha, all civilians were. She pulled the covers from off her legs and gawked at how puny her legs looked. She reached to poked them and stopped in shock at her hand. It was so small!

What the hell was going on?!

"Sakura," her mother said, walking into Sakura's room without knocking. Which is something she hasn't done since she was a little kid. "geez, you're supposed to be heading to the Academy, don't you remember? You're meeting your Sensei today."

"Mom- What's going on! You're not supposed to be here! There's a war!" Sakura exclaimed, running towards her mother, tripping slightly at the lack of height when she stood next to her mother. She gaped up at her equally shocked mother. "I-I'm losing my mind..." She muttered to herself as she looked down at herself, realizing for the first time that she was shorter and her hair was longer than she remembered it ever being.

Mebuki reached and touched the back of her hand to her daughter's forehead. "Sakura, are you feeling all right? Maybe you should stay home today; I'm sure your Sensei will understand."

Sakura backed away and shook her head, still not fully understanding what was going on. "Mom... how old am I?"

Mebuki eyed her daughter curiously and crossed her arms. "Well, you should know that You're thirteen. And you're going to be late if you don't hurry up and get dressed." With that her mother walked out of the bedroom, closing the door behind her with a resounding click.

Sakura ran a hand through her hair, marveling at how long and soft it was. "I can't be back in time... This has to be a genjutsu or something!" She said to herself, running towards the mirror and grabbing the sides as she eyed herself in wonder. "What the hell is going on?" She screeched in horror as she looked at her younger self's reflection. She took a few moments pause and let herself relax, trying to clear her mind and think about what had happened before 'all this' happened. She was. . . she was dying. Yes. She had been hit by one of Madara's attacks. They were losing the war quickly. Naruto and Sasuke and gone MIA and Madara was slowly starting to win. That's when everything went black... And now, here she was.

Sakura eyes trailed up her reflection and she realized something. She had a second chance. She had the chance to change everything. To take back all the things she ever said wrong to Naruto. To not be so obsessive over Sasuke and actually give him someone to rely on. To give him a reason to stay instead of fawning over him like some useless little girl.

She had a chance to change all the wrong that had ever happened in their lives. "First thing first... I have got to do something with my hair." She smirked as she eyed the scissors on her bedside table.


	2. Chapter One

**Introducing Oneself **

**Chapter One**

**/\**

**.**

**.**

Sakura made her way towards the academy in a rush, already late she didn't know what to expect. Before she hadn't been late. She wondered if Kakashi was already there, waiting. What a great first impression. She was already out of breath, her body not accustomed to the overexertion. She couldn't believe that she had been so out of shape when she was younger. No wonder Tsunade trained her so harshly.

When she entered the academy and made her way towards the classroom and opened the door, she did not expect to have a face full of chalk eraser. There was a moments pause before Naruto was cackling on the floor, pointing and holding his gut as he laughed to the extent of crying.

A nerve twitched in her head and she stomped over towards the blond, fist at the ready. "Grr, Naruto you idiot!" She sent him sailing into the adjacent wall.

Naruto groaned as he raised himself from the rubble, gaping in shock at the indentation on the wall and at Sakura who was practically steaming. "S-Sakura-chan..."

Sasuke just stared at the two, not really saying anything.

Sakura wiped her forehead of the chalk dust and walked calmly over towards Naruto, ignoring Sasuke altogether, which was so unlike her in the first place. "Geez, Naruto, do you have to be so immature?" She couldn't believe she forgot all about that cheap prank that was supposed to be pulled on Kakashi, if that was the case, then how come she didn't run into the jounin? She helped the blond to stand on his feet, and wiped away the dirt and rubble that was on his shoulders. "Sorry, don't know my own strength.

Naruto grinned nervously and scratched the back of his head. "Sorry about that, Sakura-chan, that was supposed to be meant for our Sensei. He's late, just like you were."

Sakura nodded, feigning surprise. "Really, well... that's a shocker. He'll be here sooner than we think though." She stated, already sensing the familiar chakra signature of her old Sensei. Her body may be out of shape, but she still had her ability.

Both Sasuke and Naruto looked over at the sound of the door sliding open. Sakura turned her head to the side and smiled warmly at the sight of Kakashi. She told herself to hold back from launching herself at the silver haired jounin, just for the simple fact that he'd probably think her crazy. He had died during the war, killed by Zetsu.

She frowned as the memory of how her sensei died came to the forefronts of her mind and she shook herself out of her stupor and watched as Naruto yelled at Kakashi for his tardiness. She could see the cogs working in Kakashi's mind as he sized them all up.

"My first impression of you three..." He paused, scratching his chin. "You're all idiots."

Sakura gaped, even with the fact that he didn't get faced with chalk he still called them idiots?!

* * *

"Okay, now that we're all here, why don't we introduce ourselves. Anyone want to go first?"

The three just sat there with frowns on their faces, still ticked about what he had said about them. Sakura was still fuming on the inside. Some people just never changed. She was sitting next to Naruto's far left while Sasuke sat on Naruto's right. Which was a first, considering all the times she was in the middle and how she always wanted to be next to Sasuke when they were younger.

"Why don't you go first." Sakura said, resting her chin against her hands.

"Me?" Kakashi said, his one eye widening. "Well, let's see... I'm Hatake Kakashi, things I like and things I hate... Don't really concern you. My hobbies, well, I have lots of hobbies. Okay, next! You with the big mouth." He pointed directly at Naruto."

"Hey!" The blond shouted in protest as Sakura giggled behind her hand and Sasuke smirked cockily.

They all listened to both Naruto's and Sasuke's introduction, it being the same as before from the last time. Sakura smiled at Naruto's like for ramen, and frowned sadly at Sasuke's goal to find Itachi. She had to change that. She had to figure out a way to make everything happen the way she believed it to be.

"Okay, pinky, you're up."

Sakura's expression immediately changed. "First off, don't call me pinky. And as for my likes. I like a lot of things, Naruto's friendship is the most important. My goals are... Well, let's just say I have too many to put out in the open. I look forward to our time together!" She smiled a great big smile and wrapped her arms around Naruto's shoulders, squeezing his neck tightly, nearly choking him.

"S-Sakura-chan, c-can't breathe."

"Well," Kakashi said awkwardly. "sorry to interrupt this love-fest, but I guess we're all finished with our introductions. I'd like to see you all bright and early by the bridge for training. Don't be late. Oh, and don't eat breakfast, or else you'll puke."

Sakura rolled her eyes and they all stood, watching as he disappeared in a cloud of smoke. She turned to the two and smiled. "You guys want to go out for dinner? Since he said we can't eat breakfast, it might do us good to fill up the night before."

"All right! Let's go get ramen."

Sasuke was already halfway gone by the time Sakura noticed. "Hey, Sasuke!" She quickly ran up and caught his arm, frowning at his obvious dismissal. "Come on, it's not like I'm asking you out on a date. It'll be good if we all get to know each other better. I have a feeling we're going to be together for a long time, so this might do us good. Come on, it's not like you've got anywhere better to go."

"Hn."

"I got a better idea, we all need something filling and healthy, why don't you both just come to my house. My mom usually cooks a lot for us anyway. I'm sure she'd love to meet you both." Before either of them had time to say a word Sakura was already dragging them towards her house.

…

…

…

"Mom, I'm home. I brought friends over!" Sakura shouted, pushing both Sasuke and Naruto through the door with a smile on her face.

Mebuki came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron. "Oh, good, you're home I was getting worried. Oh my, you brought boys home!" Her mother placed a hand against her cheek and winked at Sakura.

Sakura blushed the color of her hair and shook her head quickly. "Mom! No, these are my new teammates." She pushed the two forward and they both bowed nervously. "This is Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke." She smiled as her mother walked up towards the two boys and wrapped her arms around them.

"Sakura's told me so much about you two; you should have heard her this morning. Especially you, Naruto. I hear you are aspiring to be Hokage?"

Naruto blushed and fiddled with his headband. "Uh, yeah, believe it." He was already overwhelmed with everything. This was the first time an adult had come up to him without the look of scorn on their face. She even hugged him as if he were her own son.

Mebuki laughed and led the two by the shoulders into the kitchen, Sakura following right behind them. "You know, Sasuke-kun, I knew your mother. She used to come to my bakery every so often with you and your brother. I always gave you some scones because you hated sweets. Your brother, however, practically ate me out of a job." She kept on rambling as she cooked, Sakura's father not home yet from the job.

Sakura smiled at Sasuke warmly as he looked at her and her mother in wonder. "You probably don't remember, we were both pretty young."

Mebuki nodded in agreement. "Yes, you were quite little. But I'm so glad you both came, Sakura doesn't have many friends, so I'm glad you all connected." She patted Sakura's cheek affectionately and ran her hands both through Sasuke's and Naruto's hair encouragingly, making the two blush.

As Mebuki walked away Sakura leaned forward and smiled apologetically at the two. "Sorry if she's a little overwhelming, I probably should have warned you about how affectionate she can be."

Naruto shook his head and smiled happily. "No way, your mom is awesome!"

"She reminds me of you." Sasuke said softly, looking down at the table.

Sakura blinked in confusion and looked at her mother's back. "You think so, I never really noticed, but thank you! I'll take that as a compliment!"

…

…

…

"Oh my god, I feel like I'm going to explode, believe it." Naruto groaned as he grabbed his stomach.

Sasuke was silently agreeing with the blond as they walked out of Sakura's house, both fully stuffed and ready for bed.

"Sorry, it seems she got a little carried away." Sakura scratched of the back of her head in embarrassment. "I'll see you two tomorrow." She waved them off with a smile on her face as they waved goodbye and walked back to their respective homes.

She continued to smile as she walked back into her home and closed the door. "Mission accomplished." She said to herself, walking up to her room to get ready for bed.

* * *

"Ah, man, he's late again. Is this going to be a regular thing for him?" Naruto grumbled.

Sasuke grunted and leaned further back into the bridge.

"Sakura's even late!"

"I'm right here, Naruto." Sakura said as she walked up to the two with a smile. She waved at Sasuke and handed the both of them a candy bar. "Here you go; I already had mine."

"Sakura, Kakashi-sensei told us not to eat!" Naruto said loudly, taking the candy bar regardless and stuffing it right into his mouth.

Sakura and Sasuke both rolled their eyes. "Here you go, Sasuke-kun. This is a protein bar, since I know you hate sweets."

"Hn, thanks." Sasuke said, opening the wrapper and chewing it methodically.

"I see you all have problems with listening to your elders."

All three froze in shock and turned around to face Kakashi as he stared down at them.

Sakura cleared her throat. "Really Kakashi-sensei, the way I saw it, it would be better to throw up a full stomach than an empty stomach. We'd be too weak to do anything if we didn't eat something. And I would hardly call a protein bar breakfast. Wouldn't you?"

Kakashi eyed the girl up and down before he sighed and let it go. "Hmmm, well then, I guess you all are ready for my test."

The three exchanged looks. "What test?" Naruto asked curiously.

"It's very simple," he placed a clock with a timer down on a rock and held out two bells. "I've set the clock till noon, now what you three need to do is get these bells from me."

Sakura crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at Kakashi. "There's only two bells, Kakashi-sensei. Won't that mean one of us will be left out?"

"Bingo! If one of you is left out that means you won't get any lunch and you'll be disqualified; that one goes back to the academy."

Sakura pursed her lips and glared. _`Yeah right, you liar!' _

"Then again, all three of you can flunk out and been sent back."

Sakura kind of tuned him out after that, already knowing what he was going to say. Right now she had to think up a plan so that they all could pass and not have to worry about all the little extra details. Sasuke was so one-sided in everything, he wouldn't even think about the rest of them, and Naruto had a one tracked mind. So, it was up to her to suggest it, she just had to make sure they didn't disappear on her before she had a chance to say anything.

"All right, when I say start, you can try to come at me."

Sakura already had a grip on the back of Naruto's jacket, knowing he would try to go after Kakashi first; she just needed to get Sasuke's attention.

"Start!"

Before Naruto could even move, he was being dragged behind Sakura with Sasuke not too far behind. "Hey! What's the big idea?"

"Shut up, Naruto, I have a plan." Sakura said in a whisper.

Both Naruto and Sasuke exchanged confused looks.

"What sort of plan?"


	3. Chapter Two

**The Mission to the Land of Waves**

**Chapter Two**

**/\**

**.**

**.**

"So, what exactly is your plan?" Sasuke asked, yanking his arm away from Sakura as she pulled them to a stop a few yards away from where Kakashi was standing.

She held a finger up to her lips to silence the boy, who looked none too happy. "Lower your voice!" She snapped, feeling proud that Naruto was just standing there, waiting on her. "Okay, now listen up, this is the only time I'm going to say this, so you better pay attention."

Both Sasuke and Naruto nodded in understanding. They both leaned closer as Sakura started to whisper the details, every once in a while looking up to make sure Kakashi was still standing in the middle of the field. "There's no point checking to see if he's there, that's a clone." Sakura said, shaking her head at the obvious tactic Kakashi pulled.

"How are you so sure?" Sasuke asked, narrowing his eyes at the girl.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "If you'd actually pay attention to the surrounding area you'd sense another presence. Look, Kakashi-sensei isn't taking us serious, so we have to get him on the first try, understand. We have to work as a team in order to get those bells."

"But there's only two, Sakura-chan." Naruto whispered uncertain.

She nodded and patted his head. "I already know what to do about that."

"How do we know you're aren't going to try and trick us? Maybe you're just using us so you can get the bells all to yourself." Sasuke stated, his voice firm as he narrowed his eyes distrustfully at Sakura.

Sakura tried not to let hurt seep into her heart at his words. She told herself that it was still too soon for Sasuke to trust anyone, even if what he said did hurt her more than he could probably ever imagine. She wasn't even in love with him anymore, was it really that hard for him to at least show a little trust in someone who was only trying to be his friend.

"I understand your uncertainty, but just this once, you have to trust me."

"Come on Sasuke-teme, this is Sakura-chan, she wouldn't do anything to mislead us!" Naruto whispered harshly, ready to knock some sense into the dark haired genin.

Sasuke grunted in relent. "Fine. This better work."

Sakura smiled and wrapped her arms around both their shoulders and pulled them close. "Okay, this is what we need to do..."

…

…

…

"Hmm, I wonder where those kids have run off too?" Kakashi said up in a tree, unable to pinpoint exactly where they were. He had sensed them only a few moments ago behind some bushes, but now he couldn't sense them at all.

"Hey!"

Kakashi turned at the outburst, shocked to see Naruto standing in the middle of the field, his guard completely down as he walked towards the tree where he was taking cover in.

"I know you're up there sensei! Don't hide like a child and come on and face me like a real ninja!" Naruto pointed up at the exact spot where Kakashi was.

The silver haired jounin sighed and jumped down from the branch. "Oh my, I see you've escaped from your hiding place. Now, where's the other two?"

"Probably hiding like the chickens they are! I wasn't going to wait any longer, I'm going to crush you and take those bells all on my own." Naruto exclaimed, taking out a kunai and turning it around in his grasp.

Kakashi just stared at the blond. "Hm, well, I'm right here."

Naruto took no time in launching himself at his sensei, his kunai poised at the ready. Kakashi was already in position before he felt the clear signs of another presence behind him. He turned quickly and caught sight of shadow clone of Naruto's launching himself at his back. "Cheap shot attacking me from behind!" Naruto was already incapacitated and the clone long gone before Kakashi even had the chance to react at the barrage of shuriken and kunai coming towards him and Naruto. "What, you're willing to attack your own teammate?"

Naruto smirked up at Kakashi. "Not exactly." And with those words he was gone with a pop and a cloud of smoke.

"What the!" Kakashi shouted, jumping back from the weapons only to have his feet kicked right from under him by Sasuke.

"_Shannaro!_" Sakura shouted from above Kakashi, Sasuke disappearing into a cloud of smoke, showing Kakashi that he was tricked by another shadow clone, which meant, Sakura had to be one as well.

Kakashi pulled out a kunai and launched it at Sakura without even thinking, looking around to see if he could sense or find the real Sakura, only to feel the drops of blood from above. He didn't even have time to react before Sakura had him falling on his back with her kunai poised at his neck. Sasuke and Naruto already grappling with his arms to hold him down as Sakura reached to his hip and snatched the bells away.

Naruto pumped one fist in the air in joy and shouted with glee. "Woohoo! We did it, believe it!"

Sasuke smirked and bumped fists with Naruto.

Sakura however was not joining in the excitement, sensing already that her plan was far from over. "Wait." She said, immediately stabbing Kakashi in the chest, making both Sasuke and Naruto shout in horror.

Naruto jumped back, his eyes wide and tearful as he stared at Sakura. "Ah, Sakura-chan, you just stabbed our sensei!"

Sasuke didn't say anything, only watched in wonder as Sakura unflinchingly pulled the kunai out of Kakashi's body, only to hear a pop and watch as the body Sakura had been straddling earlier turned into a log. "What the- it was a trick this whole time?" He said in shock.

Sakura moved her hair out of her face and stood, throwing her kunai to the ground and turned around at the sound of clapping. "Very surprising, I had no idea you three could come together so well as a team. I'm very shocked, but I have to say Sakura, you surprised me most of all... You got hurt in the process of trying to retrieve the bells."

Sakura crossed her arms over her wound and shrugged, already sending healing chakra to the wound without anyone noticing. "It's just a flesh wound."

Naruto wrapped his arm around his pink haired teammate and smiled. "You got to admit though, we did pretty well going up against you."

"Yes," Kakashi acquiesced. "but none of you managed to get any bells, and look, time has already ran out." The clock's timer went off and the three teens frowned as Kakashi walked towards the timer to turn it off. "So, what am I going to do about this tough decision?"

Sasuke stepped closer to his two teammates and stared at Kakashi in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Well, obviously I have to choose who was better out of the three. I can only pass the two of you."

Sakura blinked in surprise, wondering why Kakashi wasn't acknowledging how well the worked together as a team. "What are you talking about? You're still going to fail one of us?"

"As I said before... There are only two bells." Kakashi hummed deep in his throat and stared at the three for a long moment.

Sakura's heart seemed to drop. She had expected a whole different outcome.

"Alright, I've made my decision. I've decided to fail..." He held out his hand and pointed straight at Naruto. "None of you!"

Sakura and Naruto both fell to their knees in relief, Sasuke could only stand there with his eyes wide open in shock.

Kakashi smiled behind his mask. "Scared you, didn't I?"

"That was a low blow, Sensei." Naruto groaned, leaning against Sakura's shoulder in mental exhaustion.

"Great teamwork you three. To be honest I didn't expect anything like you pulled earlier, but I guess surprises are always welcome. I look forward to being your sensei for the remainder of our time together! Now, why don't you go eat lunch, I'll see you all bright and early for training tomorrow. Bye now!"

…

…

…

Naruto looked between Sasuke and Sakura as he stood up off the ground. "Man, that was intense..."

Sasuke nodded and straightened his stance, coughing into his fist.

Sakura smiled and squealed uncharacteristically. "Yay! I knew my plan would work! You two are so awesome!" She wrapped them both up into a bone crushing hug. "Come on, my mom has lunch prepared for us. I told her you would be coming over."

Naruto grabbed his stomach nervously. "You don't think people can die from being over-stuffed, do you?" He directed his attention towards and equally queasy looking Sasuke.

"Just come on, Dobe." Sasuke said, following behind Sakura as she ran ahead of them in the direction towards her house.

* * *

Sakura sighed as she watched Naruto whine at the Hokage for better missions, honestly she could do without the stress of having to be in real battles. Even after three months she was still trying to get her body back into the shape it was when she was fifteen. It seemed to be taking her a lot longer though, seeing as none of the rookie-nine were anywhere to be found and Lee's team was MIA. All she really had was her own private hiding spot in the forest of death, that alone was dangerous because it was forbidden territory.

"Naruto, you can't just go around demanding things of the Hokage." Kakashi chastised lazily, not really paying attention to the loud mouthed blond. He just knew that it was his head on a stake if he didn't get the blond to be quiet.

"So, you think you're ready for a 'real' mission do you?" The Hokage said, his hands laced together under his chin as he smoked his pipe. "Fine then, bring in the client." He directed towards one of the guards.

Sakura didn't even have to look to know who was coming through the door. She could already smell the liquor on the old bridge builder as he stumbled in under the threshold. She ignored the way he insulted them all and went through a mental checklist of all the things she needed and the things that were going to be happening on their mission. She knew that she was definitely going to be helping out a lot more than she had the previous time they had this mission. She just hoped she didn't get too carried away, and maybe she could change the outcome of the mission also.

She hated seeing Zabuza and Haku end the way they had.

…

…

…

"Sakura-chan, are you alright? You've been spaced out ever since we left?"

The three males turned at the sound of Naruto's inquiry towards their only female companion. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the girl, noting that she had been acting strange over the last three months. She definitely wasn't the same twelve year she was back in the academy. And he knew people couldn't just change over night. She had gotten them to work together as a team, even threw aside what feelings she had for him and actually acted like a real ninja.

She was definitely someone he wanted to keep an eye on.

Sakura smiled and nodded her head. "I'm fine, just thinking is all."

"What are you thinking about?" Naruto asked curiously while walking alongside his female companion.

Sakura bit her lip; she couldn't honestly tell him that she was thinking about the upcoming events to happen in the Land of Waves. He'd probably think her crazy, nor was she going to tell them that they were going to be attacked any minute now. Nope. She was just going to stay quiet and let things flow as they may. "Nothing really, the weather is really beautiful, not drop of rain in sight and the sun is nice and warm.

Naruto nodded in agreement. "Sure is."

Sakura opened her mouth to say something else but froze when she saw someone come up behind Naruto. She gasped and launched herself at her friend and threw them both to the ground, dodging a barrage of throwing knives. "Naruto, are you okay!"

"What the heck was that?" Naruto shouted, grabbing Sakura's shoulders and helping her stand. Sasuke was already on guard, standing firmly in front of the bridge builder.

Sakura and Naruto dodged another shot at them and Sakura had to calm Naruto down, seeing as he was slowly starting to panic. "Naruto, calm down. You can do this!" She gave an encouraging smile and ran over towards the bridge builder and Sasuke. "I got it from here, Sasuke-kun, go help Naruto and Kakashi-sensei."

Sasuke nodded and stood in front of her. "Right!"

…

…

…

Sakura swatted the dust off her clothes and sighed as she looked at the two chuunin tide up to a tree. "Well, that was rather anticlimactic."

The two males who attacked them struggled and growled at them.

"Heh, heh, they sound like a bunch of dogs." Naruto laughed as he scratched the back of his head.

"Great teamwork you three. Naruto, you should thank Sakura for risking her neck for you. Without her you'd be in pieces." Kakashi said sternly, patting Sakura's head affectionately.

Naruto flushed in embarrassment and Sakura smiled. "Thanks Sakura-chan."

"It was nothing Naruto. You're the one who helped bring them down." She smiled, happy that she was able to knock some sense into him before he froze up like he did the last time.

"All right, lets keep going." Kakashi ordered, leading the way as they all started to follow behind him.

"Sakura, you're hurt." Sasuke said suddenly, making them all stop to stare at the rosette.

"Huh?" Sakura asked in confusion, looking about herself to see where the damage was.

Kakashi quickly ran up to Sakura and moved her arms, showing a big gash on her middle. "How did you not notice this?"

High tolerance of pain? She thought sagely. "The adrenaline maybe?"

"Those claws were full of poison." Kakashi said worriedly.

Sakura knew that she had to heal herself, knowing exactly what would happen if she continued to allow the poison to flow through her. "I can take care of it Kakashi-sensei."

"Hmmm?" He hummed curiously.

Sakura placed her hand over her middle and closed her eyes, allowing the chakra to flow through into the palm of her hand.

Before anyone knew what was going on, a bright glow of green came from Sakura's hand as she slowly removed the poison and closed up her wounds.

Kakashi stood and backed away. "There's more to this kunoichi than she let on."


	4. Chapter Three

**Battles**

**Chapter Three**

**/\**

**.**

**.**

Sakura looked through the fog as they traveled on boat over the ocean. The unfinished bridge looming over them as the moved slowly and quietly. Tazuna had already explained to them everything that was going on, and all Sakura could seem to worry about was what is awaiting them once they reach land.

"Wow Sakura-chan, how'd you learn to heal yourself?" Naruto asked excitedly, smiling with idolizing eyes at his friend. "Can you teach me, huh?"

Sakura smiled and shook her head of her looming thoughts. "I could, but it takes a lot of chakra control. First you need to learn how to do that."

Naruto nodded in understanding. "Well, when I do, you have to teach me!"

She laughed and nodded. "Of course."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes as he watched Naruto wrap his arms around Sakura in a hug, unaccustomed to how familiar they acted with each other. When he knew for a fact that not too long ago Sakura couldn't even stand the sight of Naruto. He bit his lip and looked down, scoffing to himself. What did he care anyway. It was just Sakura.

Sakura playfully pushed Naruto away and looked ahead, things were going to get from bad to worse real soon. She only hoped she'd be of some use this time instead of just standing around being scared like before. She turned her head to look at Sasuke and noticed his glare directed at her. She blinked in confusion and turned back to face the front.

What was that all about?

Once they reached land, Kakashi led them towards a spot away from the water and moved them under a bunch of trees with a small clearing for them to rest under. Though, Sakura knew for a fact they weren't going to be getting any rest.

"Alright everyone, why don't we stop here and rest for a little bit before we set out again." Kakashi suggested, placing his bag down to start working on a fire. "Sakura, you go grab some water from that river over there and Naruto and Sasuke can go get some firewood."

Sakura nodded, grabbing their canteens and walking over towards the softly flowing river. She didn't know why she kept getting this weird feeling as if they were being watched. She'd been feeling it ever since they left the village. It was different from any other presence she had encountered before and it didn't exactly feel menacing, it was just... odd.

"Sakura! Look out!"

Sakura quickly turned around and saw a large sword swinging in her direction. She lunged for the ground, barely being missed as it flew over her head. She swiftly got up to her feet and ran towards Kakashi and the bridge builder.

She caught her breath as she stood next to her sensei, her guard up and a kunai at the ready as she faced Zabuza. So he had decided to make his presence known at last. Though, things were a little different this time, seeing as Naruto and Sasuke were still gone.

"Well, well what do we have here?"

Sakura stood in front of Tazuna, she looked over at Kakashi and saw him stepping farther away from them. "Sakura, take the bridge builder and go find Sasuke and Naruto and then run!"

Sakura bit her lip and shook her head. Not wanting to leave her sensei alone, knowing for a fact he wasn't strong enough to fight all alone. She summoned a clone and turned to Tazuna. "Mr. Tazuna, follow my clone, she'll protect you! Now run!"

"I don't think so!" Zabuza shouted throwing a large shuriken at the clone Sakura and the bridge builder.

Sakura growled and threw a kunai to stop the shuriken. "Go, hurry!" She ordered, grabbing the shuriken and throwing it back at Zabuza with enhanced chakra.

"Sakura-" Kakashi was cut off as Zabuza made a clone and dashed towards him at top speed.

"I'll handle both of you!" Zabuza exclaimed, throwing his sword down over Kakashi's head as his clone did the same to Sakura.

Sakura launched herself to the side and threw out her feet with chakra, kicking Zabuza in the gut, making him disappear in a flash of water. Sakura bit her lip, realizing it was a clone she had been fighting all along. She ducked as a sword came flying by her face and dodged as the sword came down on her over and over. She didn't even have time to worry about Kakashi, knowing that the real Zabuza was probably after Tazuna. But what Zabuza didn't know was that she had a few tricks up her sleeve as well.

…

…

…

"Keep running Mr. Tazuna, whatever you do, don't look back." Sakura urged as she ran behind the bridge builder, not even breaking a sweat as she threw more kunai at the rogue nin who was following them.

Naruto, Sasuke... Where were they?

Sakura didn't even have time to blink before she disappeared with a pop as a kunai stabbed her in the back. "Ah!"

Tazuna turned around in fear as he saw Sakura was no longer behind him and watched as a laughing Zabuza drew in closer. "S-Stay a-way from m-me!" Tazuna cried, backing further and further until he backed into a tree.

"I'm going to finish you here and now!" And with that Zabuza held up his sword and threw it down over Tazuna.

"I don't think so!" Sakura shouted, meeting Zabuza's attack with a katana she had strapped to her back. She held her own as she met strength with strength as she blocked Zabuza's attack. She kept her arms laced with chakra and her feet planted firmly into the ground as she fought back. Her teeth ground into her cheek as she pushed back with all her might and threw Zabuza off and away from them.

"S-Sakura..." Tazuna said, sighing in relief and wiping his head from the sweat as he realized he was safe for now.

Sakura had already seen Zabuza's plan and changed her mind last minute, switching herself with her clone without either Kakashi or Zabuza realizing it. Though, she felt bad for leaving Kakashi all alone with two clones, but she knew in no time he'd be here helping her. She just had to hold the rogue nin off and wait. Of course, she knew that she could probably take on Zabuza on her own, but that would just raise questions she was not ready to answer.

Dodging and blocking... That was the way to go.

"You little brat, I'm going to enjoy getting rid of you." Zabuza hissed, throwing his sword down over Sakura, making her scoot to the left and jump away as he swung it at her from the side. "Stop. Moving!" He ordered in outrage, getting tired of chasing the girl all around.

"Sakura-chan!"

Sakura looked behind her in happiness, glad that they were safe. "Naruto! Sasuke!" She didn't even have time to react before her shoulder was sliced nearly in two. She cried out making Sasuke and Naruto not hesitate to run over towards, blood falling all over their hands as they dragged her away from Zabuza and over towards the bridge builder.

"Sakura, what are you doing here fighting this ninja all alone." Sasuke asked, placing his hand over her shoulder, to hopefully stop the blood flow.

Sakura choked on her words as she reached to her shoulder to try and heal herself, cursing herself for letting her guard down in the middle of a fight. "I'm fine. Kakashi and I got separated while fighting his clones, I tried to protect the bridge builder." She smiled at Sasuke reassuringly. "I'm fine."

Zabuza cackled in disgust. "Well, ain't that just precious. I'm tired of playing games with you brats! Now hand over the bridge builder and I just might consider letting you live."

"Naruto," Sasuke said, looking up at the blond as he stood, looking angrier than ever. "you fight this guy and I'll keep Tazuna and Sakura out of harms way."

Naruto didn't need to be told twice as he launched himself towards Zabuza.

Sakura's eyes widened as Sasuke lifted her in his arms and started moving towards the bridge builder. "Sasuke, what are you doing? You should go help Naruto."

Sasuke met Sakura's eyes with his own and glared at her. "I'm not leaving you behind to die."

Sakura pushed herself away from Sasuke until he finally let her go and put her on the ground. "I can heal myself just fine. You should be fighting!"

Sasuke's eyes widened, not expecting her to be so forceful. "Why are you trying so hard to push me away? I'm not leaving you here to suffer, look at you, you can barely move."

Sakura groaned in frustration, not wanting to deal with this right now. "If I heal myself now, will you go help Naruto."

Sasuke nodded firmly, his eyes never leaving her wound as she started to remove her shredded clothing on her shoulder so she could get a better look at her injury. She scoffed mentally, berating herself for getting hit in the first place. She should have known this would happen once she looked away from the fight, but no~ she just had to get excited from hearing Sasuke and Naruto's return.

Sakura placed a glowing green hand on her wound and sighed as the bone and tissue started to mend together and heal. It had been pretty deep, but it was nothing she couldn't handle. "All right, I've finished, now go. I'll stay here and look after Tazuna!"

…

…

…

Sakura cursed mentally as Haku disappeared with Zabuza on his back. She should have done something! But with Kakashi and Naruto fretting over her, thinking that everything was okay now, she couldn't even get a word in edgewise. "Really, I'm fine." She said, pushing away Naruto's wandering hands.

"I'm very proud of you three, you've done amazing in your teamwork and in looking after our client. Good work Sakura, I underestimated you... I'm sorry."

Sakura gaped in shock at Kakashi's words, never before had she heard those words ever come out of his mouth. She bit her lip to hold back her traitorous emotions. "Thank you, Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi patted her head and started walking forward, right before he fainted. Sakura winced as he hit the ground, feeling bad for forgetting all about that.

…

…

…

Sakura folded the blanket over Kakashi and sat back on her haunches. "He should be fine. He just overexerted himself with overuse of the Sharingan." She explained to Naruto and Sasuke as they worried over the sensei.

"What should we do until he wakes up?"

"Why don't we go get something to eat. Tazuna's daughter said she was making dinner, so why don't we leave Kakashi-sensei to rest and we'll go replenish ourselves."

Sasuke and Naruto nodded and followed Sakura out of the room.

* * *

"Okay," Kakashi said, pulling his book out of his weapons pouch and turning to the right page. "we're going to be doing a training exercise."

Sakura sighed, already knowing what it was.

"What sort of exercise, sensei?" Naruto asked in excitement.

"This." And without much effort Kakashi placed one foot against a tree trunk and the other until he was steadily walking up the tree. "This is a basic tree climbing exercise. It's a beginning from doing many things such as walking on water and learning how to control your chakra properly into a certain part of your body. Like we had witnessed before from Sakura, she has perfect chakra control. Which allows her to pinpoint the exact location of where she wants her chakra and uses it to her advantage."

Sasuke and Naruto nodded in understanding. Sakura just smiled to herself, not used to being praised so much.

"Alright, begin!"

All three ran towards their separate trees and tried their best to climb. Like before, Sasuke and Naruto were the first to slip up and fall back down, while Sakura just continued on her way until she made it to the top where she could land on a branch.

"Way to go, Sakura-chan!" Naruto praised, although inwardly he was jealous of his teammate.

Sakura smiled, knowing that it wasn't exactly fair that she was getting all the praise, knowing that if she was her old self, none of the things they were saying would be happening. She would still be the same weak old Sakura that she had always been. She tightened her fist and sighed, she refused to show weakness. She promised herself that things were going to be different. And they were. She didn't want to see Sasuke go back to Orochimaru and she refused to be left behind like she was before. She was going to stand right next to her teammates in all their battles and help and win right along with them.

"Sakura..."

Sakura turned at the sound of her name only to see both Sasuke and Naruto standing before, equally looking embarrassed and shy.

Sakura cocked her head to the side in confusion. "What's the matter you two?"

"Can you tell us how you managed to climb the tree?"

Sakura blinked and then smiled. So, things were changing, the last time, Sasuke didn't even think about coming towards her.

"Sure..."

…

…

…

"Great! You two did it!" Sakura shouted in excitement as she clapped her hands.

Sasuke and Naruto jumped down from their positions on the tree and bumped fists, walking to Sakura and thanking her for her help. Kakashi walked up to them and praised them for their hard work and patted Sakura once again on the head. She was beginning to think this was going to be a habit of his.

"All right! Let's go eat!" Naruto shouted, pumping his fist in the air and running back towards Tazuna's house.

…

…

….

Sakura gasped as she felt this mist around her grow thick. She had been watching over Tazuna as he and his fellow workers worked on the bridge, and then had to watch as one by one the workers slowly started to leave, for fear of Gato and his men coming after them too. Tazuna clenched his fists in anger while Sakura looked around for the enemy.

"Mr. Tazuna, get down!" She shouted, running quickly towards the old man as she deflected a barrage of shuriken.

Great, why was she the only one that always managed to get caught in the crossfire. "Run, go get help!" She shouted, sending exploding tags in the direction of where the shuriken came from.

Tazuna nodded, not looking back as he ran for help.

Sakura crouched low to the ground and searched her senses for the enemies chakra.

"Sakura-chan!"

Sakura turned at the sound of Naruto's voice and sighed in relief. Good, Tazuna had made it and got the help she needed.

…

…

…

"Sakura, what do you think you're doing, you have to get out of here." Sasuke gasped, grasping a hold of his wounds as needles stuck out of his body all over.

Sakura shook her head, equally covered in wounds as she wrapped her arms around Sasuke and pulled him to the side as Naruto continued to fight Haku's glass mirrors. "I'm not leaving you to fight alone, again!"

Sasuke met her eyes in confusion. "Again?"

"Look out Sakura-chan!"

Sakura quickly grasped Sasuke under his arms and moved them both out of the way of the flying needles that were hurdling towards them. She quickly started to pull out the needles and heal Sasuke before quickly focusing on Naruto and running towards him to help him with his wounds also.

"Sakura-chan, I'm fine, save your chakra." Naruto urged, pushing Sakura's hands away.

"No, I need to help you." Sakura demanded, not taking no for an answer.

"Naruto, Sakura!" Sasuke shouted as Haku finally came out from the mirrors and held a kunai up above Sakura's head. There was no thinking as Sasuke's body moved on its own, it seemed like things were going in slow motion as he launched himself at both Sakura and Naruto and shielded them with his body, his whole back covered with needles.

"Sasuke!" Sakura cried, catching his body as it fell, refusing to cry as she noticed how badly wounded he was. "Don't worry, I'll heal you." She reassured him as she wiped the blood from his chin and slowly started to remove the needles from his body once again.

"Don't you ever lay a hand on my friends again." Naruto growled as he launched himself at Haku, his demon chakra swirling around him.

This must have been the first time he ever used kyuubi's power. She thought to herself as she watched Naruto battle Haku, ultimately destroying the ice mirrors. She watched with rapt attention, knowing for a fact she wasn't going to be able to save Haku or Zabuza in the long run. They were out for blood and they wouldn't stop until they died.

With her strength she lifted Sasuke on to her back and carried him away from the battle that was going on. Leaving everything to Naruto. She knew he could take care of it and that he was in good hands. Right now she needed to make sure Sasuke didn't die.

…

…

…

Sasuke groaned as he started to awaken, the first thing he saw was Sakura's face as she examined his torso for any internal damage. "S-Sakura."

She smiled up at him and nodded. "Good, you're awake. I thought you were going to sleep forever with the way you were snoring."

Sasuke blanched and narrowed his eyes at the rosette. "I do not snore."

She laughed behind her hand and startled when Kakashi and Naruto walked over towards them, both with smiles on their faces. "Well, looks like we've completed our mission." Their sensei said, ruffling Naruto's hair as he stood over them.

"What happened?" Sasuke asked.

"We won. That's all that's important." Sakura said, looking over at the two prone bodies a distance away.

Sasuke followed her line of sight and nodded. "Right."

* * *

"Okay everyone, let's call it day, I believe we've all had enough with menial missions. Seeing as both Sasuke and Naruto can't get along.

Sakura couldn't agree more as she watched both Sasuke and Naruto have a staring competition, Kakashi already long gone. "Alright you two, enough's enough! You have been arguing all day, stop antagonizing each other and just get along!"

Sakura looked up at the sky and sighed to herself. The chunin exams were going to be starting sooner than she'd like, and if those two kept arguing things were going to end the same as they've always been. "Come on, let's go eat at my house." She offered walking up to the two and smacking them both on the back. "And then maybe we can spar a little afterward."

It didn't take much for Sasuke and Naruto to agree as they followed behind Sakura, still silently glaring at each other.

"Geez, what am I going to do with you two."


	5. Chapter Four

**Chunin Exams**

**Chapter Four**

**/\**

**.**

**.**

Sakura sighed as she walked down the path towards the hospital; she was hoping she could do some volunteer work before Tsunade came so she could at least have a few credentials. "Ugh, I can't believe Kakashi dragged us out so early in the morning just to tell us to get lost." They were supposed to have training done but Kakashi had sent them on their way saying he had some important matters to deal with.

"Sakura-chan!"

Sakura turned at Naruto's call and smiled with a wave. "What's up Naruto? I thought you were going to go get some ramen."

The blond blushed and looked down at his feet. "Well, I was, but then I got to thinking it's no fun eating alone, so I was wondering if you'd like to go out to eat with me... Like a date."

Sakura winced, wishing for once that Hinata had the guts to tell Naruto she liked him way sooner than when a war was going on. "Uh," She started to back away, not really knowing what to say until she ran into something from behind. "sorry!" She turned around to say and froze when she realized who she bumped into. "K-Kankuro?"

Kankuro looked down at Sakura with a confused look. "Do I know you?" Without even a beat he had Sakura's shirt collar in his hands and dragged her forward until they were practically nose to nose. "I'm pretty sure I would remember someone as cute as you." He smiled a threatening grin at her as she tried to pry his hands off of her.

She leaned her head back away from Kankuro as he pulled her closer. "Hey, let me go. I said I was sorry." She said, not really expecting the same thing to happen all over again, except this time there wasn't the Konohamaru Squad around.

"Hey, let her go. She didn't do anything to you bonehead!" Naruto shouted, coming up towards Kankuro.

The puppet master turned to face Naruto, with his hand still holding Sakura's shirt, and pushed the blond away with his other as he neared. "Back off shrimp, I'm not talking with you." He stated, turning back towards Sakura as he smirked a bone chilling smile.

Sakura growled, getting fed up with being treated like a rag-doll. "I said, let. Me. Go!" And with that she took his arm in her hand and twisted it until she had him facing away with his arm bent behind his back.

"Hey, ouch!" Kankuro shouted, grimacing as she squeezed his wrist.

"Didn't anyone ever teach you that it's not polite to mess with girls?" She hissed in his ear, already sensing both Sasuke and Gaara above them in the tree.

"Why I oughta!" Kankuro growled dangerously, squirming to try and get out of Sakura's grasp.

"Sakura..."

She looked up at the sound of her name and noticed Sasuke staring at her with an unreadable look. "let him go, these outsiders aren't worth our time."

She grumbled something under her breath and let Kankuro go. "Hmph."

"Hey, I'm not through with you yet!" Kankuro snapped, taking Sakura's arm and pulling her towards him. "I'll show you to mess with me!"

"Kankuro." A voice growled.

Sakura looked up and saw Gaara, right where she suspected he'd be. She supposed some things about the past never changed.

"G-Gaara!" Kankuro said in surprise, backing away as the red head narrowed his eyes at him.

Sakura wiped the dust off her cheek as Sasuke jumped down to check on her and she gave a small smile as reassurance. "I seem to always get myself into weird predicaments." She said with a sigh, watching as Gaara jumped from his perch on the tree and came to stand next to his brother.

"What's your name?" Gaara asked.

Naruto smirked and pointed at himself. "Mine?"

Gaara shook his head and pointed at Sakura.

Sakura froze looking between Sasuke and Naruto in confusion. "You want my name?"

Kankuro scoffed and crossed his arms. "Not like she's worth it."

Gaara scowled at his brother, making the other teen back away in fright.

Sakura blinked, totally not seeing this the way she thought it was going to go. "Uh, Sakura."

"Sakura," Gaara tested the name on his tongue and cocked his head. "I look forward to killing you."

Sakura opened her mouth in shock, not expecting that outcome.

Naruto's eyes shined bright with fury. "What did you just say to my Sakura-chan?!"

"Your Sakura-chan?" Sakura shouted, punching the back of Naruto's head in annoyance.

* * *

"Yeah, we passed the preliminary rounds! We're so awesome!" Naruto shouted with glee as he jumped up and down in excitement.

Sakura wasn't sharing in his excitement though. Yes, they had made it this far, now all they had to do was go through the forest of death. Where Orochimaru was. She eyed the Grass nin and scowled, wondering if Orochimaru had already taken over their body or not. She didn't know what she was going to do, but she knew she had to keep him away from Sasuke.

"Sakura-chan, what's wrong, you're glaring?" Naruto asked in concern, resting his hand on her shoulder.

Sakura blinked and looked away, shaking her head. "Nothing, I'm just nervous about what awaits us."

Naruto grinned and pumped his fists. "Don't worry, Sakura-chan. Teme and I will protect you."

Sakura rolled her eyes but nodded nonetheless. "Sure, sure."

"All right you maggots! Get ready!" Anko shouted, causing everyone to stand to attention. "When I say start, you go. Understood?"

Sakura and her team prepared to leave as they gathered their things.

"Start!"

And they were off without a hitch. They jumped through the trees, making as much distance as they possibly could with Sasuke in the lead. Of course, Sasuke was going to take them to the exact location where they had lost Naruto, and then Orochimaru was going to be after them in no time. She had to make sure they didn't separate again.

…

…

…

They had been traveling for a good thirty minutes when they started hearing the screaming.

Naruto shrugged and grabbed at his crotch. "Man, I gotta take a leak!"

Sakura grabbed the back of his collar and pulled him before he ran off. "Do it here, we don't want to get separated in any way."

Naruto blushed crimson and held up his hands against his cheeks in embarrassment. "Sakura-chan- I had no idea you cared so much."

Sakura growled and smacked Naruto over the head. "Idiot, just go pee!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and looked around, sensing something off in the area. "Sakura..."

"Hm?" Sakura looked over at Sasuke and gasped. "Everyone, look out! Move!"

The all jumped away as a barrage of exploding tag bombs come raining down on them. Both her and Sasuke wound up on one side of the forest with Naruto nowhere to be seen. She clucked her tongue in outrage. She had to see that idiot pee and they still ended up getting separated!

Sakura reoriented herself and looked around for Sasuke and grabbed his hand, moving him as the rain nin still tried to catch them. "I know that blond guy doesn't have the scroll, so one of you must have it." He threw shuriken and kunai at them, making them have to move apart in order not to get hit.

Sasuke growled and dodged them as he drew closer to the nin, almost getting close to his face before he landed a swift kick to the side of his head, making the enemy nin fly into a tree.

"Come on Sakura, he's down for the count. Let's go find Naruto."

She nodded, following him as he led her back to where they had last seen Naruto.

* * *

She gasped as she finally caught sight of Orochimaru. "Sasuke!" She shouted, launching herself at his back and moving them both to the ground as Orochimaru's long neck came a hairs breadth away from reaching Sasuke.

"What the hell is that?" Sasuke cried, looking absolutely horrified as he watched as the ninja's head retracted.

Sakura stood in front of Sasuke. "Sasuke, stay out of this fight, whatever you do, don't let him near you!" She ordered, not taking her eyes off the nin standing before her.

Orochimaru laughed, removing the skin from his face. "I see you've figured me out, Haruno Sakura."

She tried not to shiver as her name slithered through his tongue like an unwanted caress.

"S-Sakura," Sasuke said, not understanding as Sakura held her kunai at the ready.

"Sasuke, when I tell you to, I want you to take Naruto and run. Don't look back, alright?" She demanded, backing up, forcing Sasuke to move.

Sasuke didn't understand what was going on. One minute they were fine and the next they had been blown away by a gust of wind. Naruto knocked out cold, and Sakura acting like it was the end of the world. "I'm not leaving you alone, you can't fight him by yourself."

"The hell I can't, now do as I say and get the hell out of here!" She shouted, shoving Sasuke back into a tree as Orochimaru took his chance and came after them.

Sakura narrowed her eyes and lunged at Orochimaru, already performing hand-signs as she ran towards him. "I won't let you take him!" Her hands glowed blue with chakra scalpels as she sliced the air where Orochimaru once stood.

Sasuke watched in rapt fascination as Sakura, single-handed, fought with the mysterious ninja.

Orochimaru growled as every step he took towards Sasuke, Sakura made two steps ahead to push him back. He was getting tired of this stupid game and extended his neck towards Sasuke one more time. She threw a punch at the ground and Sasuke had to grab Naruto and jump into the air as the whole area around them blew up into smithereens.

Orochimaru took the chance to go after Sasuke, reaching his neck out for the boy in one swift movement.

"I don't think so!" Sakura shouted, wrapping a chakra laden hand around Orochimaru's neck and flung him against a tree, snapping his neck in half in the process.

She took deep breaths to regain her energy and turned back to face Sasuke, sighing once she realized that he was okay. "Don't you ever listen?"

Sasuke opened his mouth to retort only to watch in horror as Orochimaru's head popped up behind Sakura and sunk his teeth into her neck. "Sakura!"

Sakura cried out in pain, feeling the venom seep into her shoulder as she collapsed immediately to the ground.

Orochimaru laughed as he jumped up into a tree. "I'll get you next time, Sasuke. Consider this a token of gratitude for such a lovely end to a battle."

Sasuke ran up to Sakura, ignoring the faltering laugh as Orochimaru disappeared. "Sakura, hang on."

She continued to scream until her voice grew hoarse and sweat was practically pouring in rivulets down her body. "Oh, Sasuke." She whispered, her eyes dilated and her body growing weak and pale. She could feel her body growing weaker and weaker as the seconds ticked and she wondered how Sasuke managed to survive this much pain the last time. She never expected to be bitten; she wished she had paid more attention so something like this wouldn't happen.

Naruto was still passed out and Sakura was starting to fade fast. "Sakura, you have to hold on, all right." Sasuke encouraged, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close to his chest as her head fell back against his shoulder.

She gasped for air as the venom continued to run through her bloodstream, poisoning every pore of her body. "S-Sasuke..." With that she passed out, leaving Sasuke there to watch as her whole body went limp and her heart stop beating.


	6. Chapter Five

**The Sound Three**

**Chapter Five**

**/\**

**.**

**.**

He was angry...

Why had she done it?

He couldn't figure out why she would do such a thing. That mark was meant for him, now it was making her suffer.

Sasuke sighed in relief once her fever went down, though she was still groaning and wincing in pain. He only hoped she would pull through. There wasn't much he could do now, but sit and wait and see what happens. He managed to find a suitable place under a tree where he could watch over both Sakura and Naruto without any worries, though they were out in the open. He just prayed that no one would find them before Naruto or Sakura woke up.

It was a little over an hour by the time Sakura started to show signs of wakefulness. "Mmm."

Sasuke snapped out of his daze and leaned over the rosette. "Sakura..."

"Sasuke?" Sakura's eyes opened blearily as she reached up to grasp her shoulder in pain. She couldn't believe she had gotten bitten by Orochimaru.

"Sakura, I know you knew who that ninja that attacked us was. Who is he, and what did he do to you?" He asked seriously, removing the cloth he had placed over her head earlier and exchanging it for another.

Sakura closed her eyes and took deep breaths. "You wouldn't understand even if I told you."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes skeptically. "Try me."

Sakura shook her head and grasped her shoulder once more, holding back a scream as the pain intensified.

He grasped her shoulders, holding her down as she tried to get up. "You have to stay down, Sakura. You're just now breaking your fever. Tell me what's going on?"

The rosette slammed her eyes shut and took shuddering breaths as she tried to focus more on Sasuke. "O-Orochimaru is the leader of the Village Hidden in the Sound... You were supposed to receive this mark and not me, in order for you to rely on him to gain more power to succeed in your revenge..."

Sasuke's eyes widened.

Sakura bit her lip. "I'm not the Sakura you think I am. I'm actually Sakura from the future... I came here to change the damage that has been done."

Sasuke didn't know what to think, all he could do was stare at her in silence.

"I know this is hard for you to believe, but I'm telling you the truth. I know all about what's going to be taking place, I know about Itachi and what happened to your clan. I know everything. I was supposed to protect you before Orochimaru bit you. I didn't want the past to repeat itself. I think he bit me thinking that I would die by the toxins alone, but I have healing abilities that he doesn't know about." She choked as another wave of pain hit her and she clutched the front of Sasuke's shirt. "Please, I'll tell you everything, but right now you have to believe I'm telling you the truth."

She waited a few minutes, still staring at Sasuke as he remained silent. Her eyes started to water as she thought the worst. "Say something..."

Sasuke turned at the sound of a bush moving and narrowed his eyes when he saw three ninja come up towards him.

"Well, aren't you the alert one."

Sasuke stood, blocking Sakura and Naruto from the mysterious ninjas view. "What do you want?"

The ninja laughed. "We just want to fight you, that's all."

Sasuke scoffed and turned his head away. "I don't have time to deal with the likes of you, so get lost."

Zaku stepped forward with a growl. "I don't think you're quite understanding the situation here," he reached into his weapons pouch and pulled out a kunai. "you see, it wasn't a request."

Sasuke growled and turned back to look at Sakura in worry, noticing the dark chakra surrounding her as she gasped and fell back into unconsciousness.

"I don't like the way this guy is treating us. So, why don't we just kill him already?" Zaku asked in contempt.

Sasuke readied for an attack, knowing he was going to get a fight whether or not he wanted to be part of it. "Fine, you want to play, then let's play."

…

…

…

Sakura was fighting consciousness when she heard the sounds of battle not too far away. What was going on? She struggled to open her eyes and turned her head shakily to the side to try and see what was happening. Her eyes widened at the sight of Sasuke fighting against the Sound genin. She never imagined something like this happening as she struggled with herself to get up. Before they had wanted to challenge Sasuke, but he hadn't been able to fight them properly due to the curse mark. She winced as she thought about the accursed bruise on her neck. She could feel the dark chakra running through her veins and tried her best to suppress the dark, evil thoughts clouding her mind.

She rose to her feet in anger when a strong attack flew Sasuke into a tree. Zaku was about to hit him with another attack while he was still down when Sakura flashed stepped right in front him, slamming the side of her arm into his face and sending him back with a force that nearly knocked down a tree when he flew into it.

Sasuke grabbed at his injured side as Sakura stood in front of him protectively, her eyes clouded as an evil smirk graced her once peaceful features. "S-Sakura..."

Sakura didn't seem to hear him as she stepped closer and closer to the already down Zaku. Once she reached him she had grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and held him up over her head effortlessly, as if he weighed nothing. All Dosu and Kin could do was watch as their teammate got beaten to a bloody pulp, unable to do anything for fear of getting caught in the crossfire of Sakura's curse mark.

For some reason Sasuke couldn't stand the sight of seeing Sakura laugh maniacally at the sound of flesh being torn and bones breaking as she continued to beat the already limp body of Zaku.

"Sakura," he whispered, his eyes widening in terror as he noticed Sakura pull out her weapon and hold it against Zaku's neck and slowly draw the blade across it until there was a trail of blood following along the tip. "stop." He didn't know what else to do as he rushed forward behind Sakura and grabbed her arm, only to be sent flying into the ground, leaving a trail of dust in his wake, Sakura's fist held out in the aftermath of her attack against him.

Sasuke coughed in pain and groaned, realizing that she had nearly broke his jaw and probably cracked a few of his ribs. He couldn't even open his mouth to speak as Sakura walked towards him, the kunai swinging between her fingers, her smile bone chilling. Sasuke knew for a fact that she was blinded by whatever evil was controlling her. He backed away in fear, unable to do anything but watch as she neared him step by step. "Sakura, stop it." He ordered, coughing as he gasped from the pain of his fractured ribs.

Sakura laughed, the marks on her body almost covering her fully as she bent down to his level and grabbed his chin, jarring his jaw painfully, her other hand rising with the kunai pointed at the ready.

He shivered at the sight of her pupil-less eyes and opened his mouth in horror as she brought down the kunai towards his neck.

…

…

…

There was a long moment of nothing but silence as he stared at Sakura, her hand frozen in the air as she stared down at him, the smirk long gone and replaced with something akin to recognition and fear. She was trembling and tears were now flowing freely down her cheeks as her other hand slowly came up and caressed his cheek, as if trying to familiarize herself.

"S-Sasuke-kun?" She asked fearfully, the tears unending as she collapsed against his chest and bawled like a little baby. Sasuke could only fall back against the ground in relief, the air escaping him as she followed down with him and she collapsed against his middle, his arms unconsciously came up to wrap around her shoulders as she continued to cry against him.

Dosu, stepped around the two genin and walked over to an unconscious Zaku, placing the earth scroll down on the ground and kicking it towards Sasuke and then picking his teammate up in his arms. "I'll leave this to you." And disappeared.

Sasuke fell back against the ground, finally able to relax, if only a little as Sakura continued to cry against him. "Sakura," he says with little annoyance. "you're heavy."

Sakura rises, her face plastered with tears and snot and he couldn't even find it in himself to be hateful to the girl. "Oh, Sasuke, I'm so sorry I hurt you." She shakily reaches forward, cringing at the way Sasuke flinches as she tries to touch him. "I'm not going to hurt you..." She says sadly, blue healing chakra coming to her fingers as she mends Sasuke's jaw and then goes to healing his ribs.

When she's finished she moves away, panting heavily as she reaches up to grab at her neck, the pain pulsing as she takes deep gulps of air to try and calm herself.

Sasuke pushed himself up on his hands and reached over towards Sakura, moving her hand away from the mark and looking at it closely. It was heated and painful looking, but Sasuke took no time in raising her to her feet and dragging her back towards the tree where Naruto was still sleeping soundly.

"Sakura," he said, setting her down as he knelt down in front of her. "you need to explain to me what you meant about you coming from the future."

Sakura looked away and bit her lip, her eyes landing on Naruto's peaceful face. "What I said was true. I may look thirteen, but I have the mind of my fifteen year old self."

Sasuke looked about ready to retort when she held up her hand to stop him.

"I know it's probably hard for you to grasp this concept, but a lot of things are about to happen, and all three of us are in the middle of it. I can't tell you everything, but this was only the beginning... I wish I could say more, but I don't know what it would do. I don't know how I got here, or who would send me. I just know I've got a second chance."

"What does Orochimaru want from me?" Sasuke asked, not missing a beat.

Sakura sighed and ran her fingers over her shoulder softly. "He wants your body."

Sasuke blanched. "That's sick!"

Sakura blinked and then laughed. "Not like that! He wants to use a special jutsu to absorb your body."

"You mean, he wants to become me...?"

Sakura nodded. "Please, Sasuke, I haven't figured out everything about why I am here, so you can't say anything to anyone."

Sasuke looked away before turning back and lightly tracing her curse mark. "What does this mean? Now that you have this mark, what is it going to mean for you?"

Sakura looked down and rested her hand against his where it was still on her mark. "I don't know. I don't think he planned on me surviving when I received the mark... But he'll be at the third exam, but I don't want us doing anything yet. I still have to devise a plan of action before anything. I'm glad they left the earth scroll, that makes things a whole lot easier for us."

Sasuke nodded and removed his hand slowly from under her's. He cleared his throat and looked down at Naruto blankly. "What are we going to do about this deadweight?" He asked, standing and nudging the blond with his foot.

Sakura sighed and reached over, touching a place on Naruto's neck, immediately waking him up in the process.

"Wha- What happened? What'd I miss?" Naruto asked curiously, looking around seeing all the damage that had been done to the area. "Where's that ugly ninja, I'll kill him!"

Sakura laughed and ruffled Naruto's hair. "It's alright, Naruto. Everything is taken care of."

"Sakura-chan, you look like crap."

Sasuke sighed and looked away as a vein ticked on Sakura's forehead. "Here we go again."

"What was that?" Sakura asked through clenched teeth.

Naruto paled considerably and shook his head, making little whimpering sounds in fear. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it."

Sakura growled and slammed her fist against the blond's cheek, unable to hold herself back. "Naruto, you idiot!"

* * *

The preliminaries were going by smoothly, Sasuke had already won his match and Naruto had just finished fighting Kiba. She was just waiting to have a battle with Ino, but what was strange was she didn't remember the pairings being the same as they were before. Kankuro hadn't fought against Misumi this time around. As she watched the screen for the names to be chosen her heart sank to the floor at the realization of what was coming.

"The next round will be Kankuro of the Sand, against Sakura of the Leaf."

Sakura turned to face a smirking Kankuro as he started walking towards the stairs that led to the arena. She gulped and started to move herself, only to be stopped by Sasuke's hand grabbing her wrist. "Sakura," Sasuke said seriously, his eyes narrowing as he noticed the mark against her shoulder flaring up. "you should forfeit."

Sakura's eyes widened in surprise before they narrowed considerably as she yanked her hand away from him. "Do yourself a favor Sasuke, and stay out of this." She didn't what came out of her when she barked like that at Sasuke, it felt as if her mind was beginning to cloud over and something else entirely was trying to take her over.

Sasuke glared at her and moved closer to where he could whisper in her ear. "Don't make me tell Kakashi."

Sakura pushed him away and started to leave, both Naruto and Kakashi confused by the interaction between the two. "What's going on, Sensei?" Naruto asked as Sakura started to walk down the stairs.

"You'll understand once you get into a relationship."

There was a long pause before Naruto exclaimed in horror. "What- Teme and Sakura-chan!?"


	7. Chapter Six

**The Battle Begins: Sakura VS. Kankuro**

**Chapter Six**

**/\**

**.**

**.**

Kankuro smirked at Sakura as she stood a good few feet away from him. "This is going to be good." He said, his eyes narrowing as she glared at his comment. "I've been wanting to get back at you for a while now."

Sakura stood her ground, ignoring the way Naruto was shouting at her encouragingly. This wasn't some fight with Ino she could just brush through. She had no idea what Kankuro had up his sleeve and she didn't want her curse mark to activate. She looked up in the direction of where Orochimaru stood in disguise and glared up at him as he grinned evilly down at her.

"Alright," the proctor said. "if both party's are ready. Begin!"

"Hey," Kankuro said angrily, not liking the fact that he was being ignored. "I'm your opponent so you better pay attention!" With that he threw a few kunai at Sakura, expecting it to hit its target but saw that that was not the case as Sakura flashed stepped out of the way, dodging every attack he threw at her.

Sakura kept stepping back and out of the way for what seemed like forever, her thoughts drifting to when she first started her training with Tsunade. How her mentor had told her as a medic she had to dodge and dodge and dodge whatever attack was thrown at her, even if there were openings. Which in this case there weren't. Kankuro was a worthy opponent to have and she knew he was aiming to win, if he didn't, Gaara would probably have his head.

She stopped as Kankuro growled, all of his shuriken and kunai now on the ground. "What kind of ninja are you? Just dodging isn't going to help you win." He took in deep breaths as he started to charge at her, his fists at the ready.

Sakura prepared for taijutsu, knowing that if she was going to win, she had to wear out her opponent first. She didn't want to do anything that would hurt Kankuro, but she wanted to make it to the next round. She wanted to show everyone that she wasn't who they thought she was.

…

…

…

Naruto grumbled in confusion as he watched Sakura continue to dodge the kicks and punches, the time drawing on as she continued to evade every attack, not throwing any of her own. "Why is she just dodging? I don't understand..."

Sasuke leaned forward as he watched Kankuro continue to sweat and gasp for breath. "She's wearing him out."

"Bingo." Kakashi said, a hidden smile behind his mask. "Sakura is actually doing pretty good, she's wearing out her opponent and saving her weapons and chakra in the process. It is quite a tactful move if I do say so myself. Though, I wonder how long Kankuro is going to stand for it; he's looking pretty mad."

Both Sasuke and Naruto nodded.

…

…

…

Kankuro growled in furry as Sakura sidestepped another one of his kicks. "Argh, you're getting on my nerves little girl!"

Sakura crouched low to the ground as he aimed a kick from above. "I'm sorry, is the mean ole' sand genin losing his touch over a girl?"

Kankuro grunted and pushed himself away from Sakura, putting some distance between the two as he removed the thing from his back.

Sakura narrowed her eyes, Kankuro was now getting serious if he was bringing out his puppet. "Good, I'm glad you decided to really play." She taunted with a grin, her curse mark pulsing against her neck menacingly. She ground her teeth together and grasped her shoulder as the mark started to activate without her consent.

Sasuke gripped the railing in anxiety as he saw Sakura grab on to her neck. "Oh no." He whispered to himself.

Sakura smiled menacingly as her pupils disappeared completely.

Kankuro took a step back as he noticed the way Sakura was looking at him. He snapped out of whatever he was feeling and released his puppet. "Now I'm going to show you what I'm really made of!"

Sakura chuckled lowly and took no time in launching herself at Kankuro. "I'd love to see you try." She whispered in his ear as she appeared right behind him, so fast that no one even noticed until she had slammed her right leg into his side and sent him flying into the wall. She took no time in racing towards the groaning sand nin and raised a chakra infused fist, aiming straight for his skull.

Kankuro jumped out of the way, gaping as Sakura put a big crater through the wall, making the whole arena shake and everyone that was standing above the wall fall to their knees from the power of it all.

"Holy crap! Sakura was just about to kill him!" Naruto exclaimed in shock.

Sakura pouted at the wall and turned to face a panting Kankuro. "What a shame..." She flexed her fingers and started walking slowly towards the prone male.

He tried his best to move, but found that his body was failing him. "Wha- What's going on." He grunted, his limbs not listening to him as Sakura drew near.

Sakura smirked and stopped a few feet in front of Kankuro. "I see you're having trouble moving..." She trailed off and cocked her head to the side, her eyes still not revealing anything but amusement. "Before you dodged I had touched your leg with my hand and sent a nerve ending jolt into your system. "You are completely under my mercy, and trust me, I intend to show you none." With those words she raised her fist and slammed it right into Kankuro's jaw, making a crater appear right from under them from the force. She surmised that she had crushed every bone in the nin's body as she smiled and watched as the cloud of smoke started to dissipate.

The proctor coughed into his hand and started to step forward to end the battle. Everyone gaped as Sakura backed away, unable to believe what they had just witnessed. Sasuke was the only one that knew Sakura, in her right mind, would never had done something so cruel.

Sakura waited for the smoke to completely go away before she looked down at the crater where Kankuro was. She narrowed her eyes and clicked her teeth when she realized she had been duped. "I see you were hiding all along." She said, turning away from the demolished puppet and looking over at where Kankuro was standing. "I should have known." She twitched slightly when he smirked at her.

"Don't underestimate me." He said, charging towards her at top speed.

Sakura smiled sickeningly sweet, as soon as he made it he dodged a kick and threw one of his own, which she blocked with her forearm before she raised her other arm and slammed it down against Kankuro's head. "No," she said, as he slammed to the ground in a painful heap. "don't you underestimate me."

Kankuro gasped as she placed her foot over his windpipe and added a little pressure. He choked out a small sound as he tried to breathe and all Sakura could do was smile down at him as she continued to crush him.

Her three teammates could not believe what they were seeing. Sakura was actually trying to kill Kankuro. Sasuke looked over to Kankuro's teammates and saw the red head just standing there without a care, while the girl was grinding her teeth and clenching her fists against the railing.

When Sakura was about to deliver the last blow she stopped.

"_Sakura, don't do it!_" Naruto shouted in terror, fearing what would happen if Sakura actually managed to kill her opponent.

Sakura glared and turned her head to look at Naruto. His blue eyes were shining as he stared down at her.

"You won already, just let him go!" He stated, motioning towards the proctor who had his hand raised.

Sakura grunted and looked down at a choking Kankuro, having an inner argument with herself. A part of her was afraid of what she was about to do, while the other side... the side that was sending dark messages, was telling her to kill him. It wanted blood, and the urge was getting stronger and stronger by the minute. She huffed and removed her foot from the male's neck, only to come back a second later and slam her foot into his side and send him flying into the wall.

Everyone gasped in shock, unable to believe Sakura would do something like that.

Hayate, the proctor, coughed into his hand. "The winner is, Haruno Sakura."

* * *

**A/N: Hello everyone, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the chapters before that! I've enjoyed all your reviews and I look forward to reading more. I'm sorry I haven't gotten back with all of you and I hope I'm not boring you with anything that has to do with this story. I know I need some work, but I'm trying my best. Please stick with me and don't give up. I look forward to continuing Times of Change, and keep expecting more and more chapters!**

**Thank you!**

**Chelsea D Grey**


	8. Chapter Seven

**Understanding**

**Chapter Seven**

**/\**

**.**

**.**

Sakura took no time in turning away from the scene of the battle, leaving the medics to go and check on Kankuro, and walked back towards the stairs. She wiped the dust off her clothes and then her hands, not meeting the eyes of the people in the arena as they all stared at her in awe. She was about to climb the stairs when she stopped from a hand landing on her shoulder.

"Sakura - Why did you do that?" Sasuke asked, not releasing her even as she tried to shrug off his hand.

Her her pupils still had, as of yet, returned so when she met eyes with Sasuke, it was like looking into bottomless pools of nothing. "What? Win?" She asked, a malevolent smirk reaching her lips.

Sasuke swallowed and glared at his pink haired teammate. "You could have killed him with that last move, you had already won, the proctor had raised his hand to end the battle, yet you still continued... I never pegged you as the type to be cruel. Is this what you're like in the future?" He asked harshly, his grip falling away from her shoulder.

Sakura narrowed her eyes and started to walk passed Sasuke when his hand caught her's and turned her around to face him. "What do you want from me?" She demanded, wrenching her hand away from his.

Sasuke sighed and ran a hand through his hair in exasperation. "Just tell me what's going on? You've been acting different ever since you've gotten that mark. You're not – you're not you!" He exclaimed in frustration.

Sakura cocked her head to the side and shook her head. "Sasuke, you have no idea what I'm like. You don't even know me." And that was the truth. He didn't know who she was, and never before had he tried to get to know her. Until now, at least. She didn't know what was with his sudden interest in her, maybe it was the fact that she had saved him from a crazed killer, and risked herself just so he didn't have to suffer. Or maybe it was just simply the fact that he was finally acknowledging her after so long of only being absorbed in himself.

Whatever it was, oddly enough, Sakura was getting sick and tired of it. She didn't know how to react with all the attention he was showing her. It was weird, and unusual. If she didn't know any better she say someone had put her under a genjutsu. Good thing she knew better.

Sasuke scoffed and stepped closer. "Why don't you just tell me what's really going on, and stop hiding from everyone and just say what's on your mind."

"You should talk, you have more secrets than I can count on both hands!" She snapped, making Sasuke take a step back.

Sakura groaned and rubbed her temples. "Look, due to the circumstances, things are going to be different, alright. I'm not the same little girl I was a few months ago. I'm not the same Sakura you once new, and I'm sorry if that's hard for you to grasp, but unlike before I'm not going to come to you about every little detail in my life, or about the choices I make."

"So, being vindictive is just part of your new personality I see."

Sakura growled and opened her mouth to say something before she was falling to the floor in Sasuke's grasp, cringing in pain. Her shoulder giving her more hell than usual. "Ah!" She gasped, clutching Sasuke's hands as he held her up against his chest.

"Sakura, tell me what I should do." He ordered, clutching her shoulders as he let go of her hands.

Sakura's head fell against his shoulders as she started to pass out. "Get Kakashi."

…

…

…

"This is quite a situation you got yourself in, Sakura." Kakashi said as he finished touching up the seal he was to perform on Sakura.

Sakura closed her eyes and sighed. Not willing to answer Kakashi at the moment. She was tired and in pain still, trying her best to lot let it show as she looked up at the dark, dank ceiling. Her eyes had finally turned to normal, and she felt bad for all the mean things she had said to Sasuke. He was only trying to help and she was throwing it all back in his face. Now here he was, so unlike him, lending her comfort when she didn't even deserve it.

Sasuke was kneeling next to Sakura, her hand holding a tight grip around his as he tried to keep her calm. Kakashi had told them the seal was going to be very painful. They went from yelling at each other to him giving her comfort and for the first time in a long while Sakura felt utterly useless and incompetent in front of Sasuke. She'd never thought she'd feel that way in front of him again, but she supposed there was a first for everything.

Sakura was very accustomed to pain, she had to build up a tolerance, but she had never felt pain as intense as the curse mark, and she knew that when Sasuke had ended up in the hospital after the sealing, then she was going to be through hell and back just to get this over with.

"Sasuke," Kakashi said, pausing before he made the seals. "you should stand back."

Sasuke looked at the silver haired jounin before turning back to face Sakura. "I'll be right over there." He pointed at the wall and stood.

Sakura smirked and cocked her head slightly. "You know you don't have to be here, you should go and finish watching the matches. I'm in good hands."

"Hn." Sasuke grunted, ignoring her completely and leaned casually against the wall.

Sakura sighed and shook her head, then looked at Kakashi and nodded.

It took about a minute before they heard the ear splitting scream.

* * *

Sakura woke up in a groggy haze, her head pounding and her mouth as dry as cotton. She looked around herself, and realized to her chagrin, that she was in the hospital, tightly snug in one of the beds. It was stark white and smelled strongly of anesthetic. She inhaled deeply and started to maneuver herself into a sitting position.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Sasuke said as he watched Sakura struggle to stay upright.

Sakura scoffed at his words and tried even harder to sit up.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and stood to help. "Stubborn girl."

Sakura cringed as she felt a strange pulse against her shoulder. "J-Just part of my charm."

Sasuke just sighed and fluffed her pillow as he helped her lean back.

"You're being unusually caring... Where's Sasuke and what have you done to him?" She snorted at his blank look and shook her head. "Did you go finish watching the matches."

Sasuke grunted and looked away. To be honest, he hadn't left her side ever since Kakashi finished the seal, though he wasn't about to tell her that. "Yeah, Naruto's off training with some old guy and I'm going to be leaving soon to train with Kakashi."

Sakura sighed and looked at her hands... seems like things were going to be the same this time too. She was going to have to spend grueling hours preparing herself to battle and she didn't even know who she was going to fight. "Do you know who my opponent is?"

"Um, about that..." Sasuke rubbed the back of his neck and sighed.

Sakura cocked her head to the side in interest. "What's the matter?"

"They disqualified you." He stated wearily.

Sakura's aura seemed to darken drastically. "They _what_!" So much for those grueling hours of training.

Sasuke sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, much like how Kakashi usually does when he's in a situation he doesn't quite want to be in. "Look, it was because you stepped out of bounds. You slammed Kankuro into the wall even when the proctor declared the battle was over."

"Neji practically killed Hinata with his bare hands and they didn't disqualify him!" She exclaimed indignantly.

"Sakura –" Sasuke said, but stopped when she held up her hand to silence him.

"Just forget it! I don't care anyway. I'm not here to become a chuunin just yet anyway. I have more important things to deal with and I've already made a point when it came to my battling skills."

Sasuke nodded, proud of Sakura for not crying over it.

"That you have, Sakura. We're all very proud of you." Kakashi said as he walked into the room, his precious book held in his hands as he stepped into the room.

Sakura looked down at her hands clenched around her blanket. "Yeah right, I was disqualified, how can you be proud of something like that?"

Kakashi stepped close and ruffled her hair. "It happens Sakura; I'm proud because you stood your ground and fought your opponent. However, I'm very disappointed that you would continue the match while using that curse mark without saying anything."

Sakura looked away in shame. To be honest she doesn't even realize when the curse mark is taking her over. It's like her mind goes completely blank and she's left in state of unawareness. It's weird, and probably something she should mention, but she didn't know why she kept it to herself, maybe the fact that she wouldn't be able to use it anymore kept her quiet.

She didn't know anymore. "Yeah," she rubbed the back of her head with a strained smile. "I'm sorry Kakashi-sensei."

The silver haired jounin shrugged and turned the page in his book. "Either way, you better hurry up and get out of here so the three of us can go train. I'd hate to leave you here without having any control over the curse mark; seeing as you go completely mindless during the process."

Sakura flinched and met his one eye as Sasuke looked between the two in confusion. "Seems like I didn't have to tell you anyway."

"Your eyes are what give you away my dear." Kakashi pointed out as he tapped the side of his head.

Sakura heaved a great sigh and collapsed back into her pillow. "I didn't think you would train me..." Goes to show that he has more favor towards students that show some strength. She thought bitterly.

"Think of it as a way for all of us to get to know each others strengths and build on that for a more greater purpose – like our teamwork." He said with a closed eyed smile.

* * *

Sakura fell back against the ground as Sasuke finished his attack. She was breathing heavily and covered in dirt and scratches. She could feel her heart beating a mile a minute as Sasuke came to stand above her, the sun blocking away his expression. He grunted and held his hand out towards her to help her up and she smiled gratefully as she took it. He pulled her to her feet and wrapped his arm around her shoulders as she fell against him, her leg completely useless.

"Seems like you're learning fast. You picked up my technique rather quickly, I didn't expect you to be able to damage the nerve in my leg just yet." She gave him a proud smile as she reached down to awaken the dead nerves and sighed in relief when she felt her leg go back to normal. "I think that's enough for today, ne?" She looked up to meet his eyes and blinked when he gave her a hard stare, not saying a word, which surprisingly was very unusual.

Over the past month her and Sasuke had grown quite close and he was actually very talkative. While Naruto was gone they had spent most of their days together sometimes, like now, even without Kakashi there to help train. Sasuke had even asked her to teach him some of her medical jutsu, not the healing parts, considering his chakra control wasn't that great yet, but how to find exact pressure points and nerves that he could disengage with just a press of his hands.

His Sharingan made him a fast learner and she was glad to be able to spend this time with Sasuke. Behind all that darkness he held he was actually a very sweet and caring person. She was glad that she took Orochimaru's bite, now knowing that this was the outcome.

She looked down as she dusted herself off. Though she could feel the evil man's pull everyday now. He was calling to her. And each day it was getting harder and harder for her to fight it.

Sasuke took her wrist and held it for a while, which was very uncharacteristic of him. He wasn't a very touchy person. He could talk your ear off, but he never initiated physical contact. "Sakura..." He paused, meeting her eyes with his deep gaze.

She swallowed nervously, her heart beating a mile a minute as he stepped closer, his eyes never leaving hers. She nearly blushed as he raised his other hand to her face. "You have blood on your cheek." He said.

Sakura's eyes went blank and she could practically feel the steam leave her entire face as he wiped her cheek roughly with his bandaged arm. She muttered something unintelligible as he calmly removed the stain from her face. She couldn't believe where her mind had just gone. She actually thought he was about to kiss her. What the hell was wrong with her? This was Sasuke!

He hummed and started to walk away from the training ground they had used for the day. Kakashi had left them to their own devices and had told them to train together. Sasuke had other ideas as he told her he wanted to know how far her skill went and without her even realizing it, they had battled like true enemies, though she didn't really do much damage to his person. The training grounds, however, were not so lucky.

She harrumphed and crossed her arms in embarrassment. "You could have just told me, I could have gotten it off myself." She stated, catching up to his figure as he continued on his way.

Sasuke smirked as he turned his head to look at her. "If I did that I wouldn't have been able to see your blush."

Her face practically exploded in bright color as she stuttered a response and he chuckled at her state.

"Seems like I've hit a nerve."

She clenched her fists at her sides in horror. "Uchiha Sasuke! Stop making fun of me!" She ordered indignantly, taking the back of his shirt and wrenching him back to face her. She gave him a pout and narrowed her eyes at him as she scowled at his calm expression.

Sasuke smirked and leaned forward to where they were almost nose to nose, he opened his mouth as if to say something before he cocked his head and blew softly into her ear.

She froze and a shiver practically quaked her whole body as she smacked her hand against her ear and glared at him, a blush once again, staining her cheeks.

Sasuke back away and clutched his middle as he started to laugh.

She couldn't believe how different he was acting. Before when he trained with Kakashi he had come back demanding power and starting fights with everyone he could find. Now, well. . . now he was just scaring her. She twitched as she reached her hand out and touched his face. He stopped laughing but his face was still amused. "Are you okay, Sasuke?"

Sasuke shrugged and tilted his head, his long hair covering his face. It had grown a lot over the past few weeks, as did her's, but she hadn't yet brought herself to cut it like she did before. It was really that long anyway. But back to business, what was going on with Sasuke?

"I'm fine Sakura, why?" He asked, his voice still laced with amusement.

She bit her lip and placed her hands over her hips. "You aren't acting like yourself."

He narrowed his eyes in curiosity. "And how am I suppose to act?"

She puffed her cheeks out and crossed her arms in thought. "Well – that is – I mean, um..."

"Sakura," Sasuke said, his voice deep and serious. "what was I like in your time?"

Sakura's arms fell to her sides and her eyes took on a broken look. She couldn't even bring herself to think about the past, or future. However you looked at it. Sasuke had tricked them in the end, and tried to kill them all off. He had turned on them so fast and sent Kakashi to his death and killed almost half the rookie nin in under five minutes flat. And then had disappeared with Naruto on his tale. He left her with a slashed back and a nearly crushed windpipe.

She closed her eyes, taking in the memory with heartbreaking serenity. "You don't want to know." She finally said, her voice thick and laced with unhidden pain.

Sasuke took her wrist again and pulled her close. "Yes, I do. You've practically skirted around me since we've became a team. You know things about my life, you know about what happened to my family and my brother! You act as if I might break and when it comes to my personality, the second I smile or laugh, hell when I make a joke. You act as if I'm some kind genjutsu!"

Sakura shook her head and placed her hands against his shoulders. "Sasuke, no – I don't mean to act that way around you... It's just, you were so different before. You used to be so cold and all you cared about was taking revenge out on your brother. And I know that's still your drive in this world, but I'm so happy you've changed for the better. I couldn't ask for anything better than the friendship we've grown to have." She looked down as her eyes started to water. God, she hated crying. "I just don't want you to change. I'm afraid all of this is a dream and I'll wake up, back to that horrid wasteland full of death and fire!"

Sasuke took her arms and held her close. "Sakura," he said, his forehead touching hers. "tell me."

She shook her head and tried to push him away, not wanting to say anything. "No."

Sasuke held her more firmly by wrapping his arms around her back. "Please, tell me." He whispered against her ear, swallowing as he watched her completely break in his arms. And after a few minutes of nothing but loud silence, she opened her mouth and told him everything.

…

…

…

Sakura sat next to Sasuke as the sun started to go down, the sky turning dark and the stars starting to twinkle. She turned to look at him as he face the open field before them. Not saying anything. He had been silent for what felt like forever. He hadn't said a word as he listened to what she had to say, and he didn't utter a word after she finished. "Sasuke..." She trailed off as he turned to face her, his eyes blank and his face devoid of any emotion.

She swallowed thickly, afraid of what he was going to do, flinching when his hand started to raise towards her.

He stilled and his eyes widened a fraction. "So this is the look you always gave me..." He said with a resigned sigh. "I imagine."

Sakura opened her eyes and blinked in confusion.

"Sadness and fear is probably how you always looked at me. When you were in your own time, I mean."

"Sas –" She halted in her words as his soft, yet chapped lips met hers. Their eyes met, her eyes wide as saucers and his halfway closed. He pulled away and licked his lips. " – uke." She finished lamely.

He blinked before he met her lips with his again. She reacted a lot differently than before, this time responding with a little bit more excitement than the last. Her inexperienced mouth tilting against his as he raised his hands against her cheeks and angled her head to the position he liked. He pulled away, their breaths mingling as there was very little distance between them again. "I promise." He said huskily.

She opened her eyes and blinked in confusion. "Huh?"

"I promise... I'll never hurt you. Ever." He stated resolutely, his nose bumping her's as he pulled her against him.

She froze in shock, surprised by his words. "Sasuke..."

He smirked and ruffled her hair, much like how Kakashi always did. "Stop saying my name."

She gulped, her hands twitching as they reached up to touch his cheek. "I have to be dreaming." She said more to herself.

Sasuke chuckled and cuffed her cheek. "Well, your not."

She didn't believe him. "Yes I am."

He narrowed his eyes in annoyance. "Sakura."

"Kai."

"Really Sakura, don't be so immature."

"Now that's the real Sasuke."

"I am the real Sasuke!"

"You don't have to shout."

"Annoying."

"Mou."

* * *

**A/N: Ah isn't OOC-ness just grand... Please, all of you, don't hate me. I'm a die hard romance addict and this is my way of continuing the story-line. I'm sorry if you don't like it, but I'm not going to change it. Yes, their relationship progressed fast, I know. Time skips make the world go round. Anyway, please tell me what you think in your reviews. I look forward to reading them all. I appreciate everything all of you have ever said to me. And I love how kind you all are, even through my mistakes. Please continue to read my story and follow and fave! Thanks**

**Chelsea D Grey**


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